I think it's great you guys are looking at quarter midgets as part of your racing umbrella. But why are you doing it? What benefit is it to the clubs to join USAC versus staying with Quarter Midgets of America. Are they mutually exclusive or will participating in both series be supported? Since quarter midget is for the kids, when we can control the adults, I would hope one of the reasons for the .25 is to provide even more fun and opportunities to the kids.

It may be a good idea to publish something after the webcast for those who don't log on. I can tell you that the mention of USAC and the .25 series Saturday at our track was not received well by the senior members. They think it will be simliar to before when USAC was involved with QMA. It appears that this will be USAC by itself this time and I like the sound of it , but I am afraid it will be a hard sell to the old timers who were unhappy with the way USAC and QMA handled things before.

All I have to say is I've been around QM racing since I could walk 40 plus yrs. My little girl is racing now and I'm also one who pushes for speed and more speed every weekend but in my book safety comes first. I've pushed and pushed for some things to change in QMA for safety reasons but nothing ever gets herd from QMA. So all in all in my book its going to take one of our little kids to get killed before QMA will wake up and listen. Last weekend one of the Jr. Honda kids in region 4 was hurt real bad don't know all the details. Our thoughts and prays went out for him this weekend. Right now I've talked to James at USAC and I'm almost an old timer of QM racing and I thinks its time for a change. I've called QMA everyday all day and night for the last couple of weeks and never got an answer so in my book its time for change!!!!

Whats wrong with the Honda. The rules just need to be tweeked and it would be the cheapest way to go. Who cares if you have a flywheel or key Max timing 20. Stock Tier 3 flywheels are only 18.5. There are other rules with the engine it would be cheaper to machine parts than to buy 20 motors and build from there. So maybe USAC will look at that. Maybe change would be better that way QMA and USAC will come up with a funner, cheaper way to race. It is not Honda's fault they have to meet EPA rules. Thats another topic. A racing Briggs motor as intro motor would not be the way to go. If they keep a Honda class for 400.00 somebody can race. A tire rule would be nice also

Well Mr.Miller theres nothing wrong with the Honda engines right now there is talks with Briggs and also Honda. USAC is trying to work a deal where honda starts building QM engines on the side. Also you have to remember what's QMA is going to do nothing all I've herd is QMA is looking into the briggs motor for the future. So it looks to me QMA and USAC are in the same boat but at least USAC is in talks with Honda right now trying to work a deal out for a cheaper future for the kids.

I know over the years QMA has been trying to increase membership. Well they made thier own bed. Who can possibly afford it. We have 4 independant tracks within a 45 minute drive of each other. Let's see, long pants and long sleeve cotton shirt, No expensive firesuit. A good latest rated Snell helmet. $100 does this not meet the same snell standards as the $300 dollar helmets? Let alone kids grow TOO FAST! Needless to say QMA has pushed out the recreational sport and has left it for people with BIGGER wallets. So why is membership down??

I know over the years QMA has been trying to increase membership. Well they made thier own bed. Who can possibly afford it. We have 4 independant tracks within a 45 minute drive of each other. Let's see, long pants and long sleeve cotton shirt, No expensive firesuit. A good latest rated Snell helmet. $100 does this not meet the same snell standards as the $300 dollar helmets? Let alone kids grow TOO FAST! Needless to say QMA has pushed out the recreational sport and has left it for people with BIGGER wallets. So why is membership down??

You all bitch about buying a good helmet and a suit for your kid because of cost yet the same people have a 30 foot enclsed trailer. 99% of the Outlaw tracks are a circus no organization at all, heck the one club around here the members have no say they dont even have a monthly meeting there is no tech rules change weekly sometimes hourly. QMA does not have all the answers but at least has some structure and I m sure USAC will be be the same.

I know over the years QMA has been trying to increase membership. Well they made thier own bed. Who can possibly afford it. We have 4 independant tracks within a 45 minute drive of each other. Let's see, long pants and long sleeve cotton shirt, No expensive firesuit. A good latest rated Snell helmet. $100 does this not meet the same snell standards as the $300 dollar helmets? Let alone kids grow TOO FAST! Needless to say QMA has pushed out the recreational sport and has left it for people with BIGGER wallets. So why is membership down??

I'm sorry but if you want your child to race in jeans and a long sleeve shirt and a Snell (not fire rated) helmet then you should go race BMX bicycles. These kids have gasoline engines and fuel tanks located inches behind the drivers compartment. Fuel coming into contact with a hot exhaust is enough to ignite it, so why would you want to take a chance? An entry level fire suit is less than $100 and you can get a fire rated helmet for $250 or less depending on the size of your child's head.

If money is the real obstacle, and you're not bolting new tires on the car, towing the car in a large enclosed trailer, eating Outback after every race day drop me an email and I will sell you the items you need to keep your kid safe at my dealer cost. david@freemanracing.com

As parents we should take every precaution to keep our kids safe. Rules shouldn't have to exist to ensure we do so. Unfortunately, sometimes things get in the way of our better judgement. Becasuse of that...I say thank God for rules.

I do not want to be critical of your opinion. But, here is a scenario I want you to think about: your kid is involved in a multi car crash that breaks the carb(happened to David). A fire breaks out.You are standing in the handlers area. Can you get to the car and get your kid out in under 10 seconds? Even with a SFI 2a/5 suit you only have 9 seconds before a second degree burn. This is not a recreational sport. FIRES do occasionally happen in QM racing. We had a fire at our club last month in the hot chute. The dirt Grands had a fire in Jr. Stock. Check out this link http://www.harliwhite.com/ and see how you feel about this situation. I agree that QMA has gotten expensive. But we can lower the cost with tires and a new motor platform not safety.

Thank you, Tyson. You certainly put that a little more eloquently than I.

In the crash Tyson is referring to our carb was broken in half by the rear axle. Fuel poured from it. Fortunately, the car stayed on all four tires and nothing happened to ignite the fuel. A close call? I don't know, but it is certainly something to think about.

I know we are not the first team that has ever had this happen to them, and we will not be the last. This could potentially happen a hundred more times with the same exact result as we experienced. No harm, no foul, right? The fact is that it could have turned out differently. It only takes the right set of circumstances.

The point of all this is that we can't be lackadaisical when it comes to safety. A small pile up that happens dozens of times each race day could go from your run of the mill crash to a horrific accident in the blink of an eye. We all need to keep that in mind.